The Winter Queen

Boris Akunin
translated by Andrew Bromfield

Erast Fandorin is a 19-year-old man who has started working in the Criminal Investigations Division of the Moscow Police doing clerking work. It is 1876. Fandorin had been raised in a wealthy family, attending good schools and was expected to attend the University. But his parents have died and his father lost all their money before they died. Now Fandorin has to learn to make his own way.

A young college student walks up to two women in the park, spins the cylinder on a revolver, and shoots himself in the head. When the story crosses the desk of the head of Criminal Investigations, Fandorin is able to follow up to discover what happened. Something isn't right. Suicide? Yes, but there is more to the story. Fandorin convinces his boss to allow him to investigate further.

Fandorin is a young man with intuition and a keen eye. He continues digging, following threads that lead him deeper into a conspiracy that is international in scope. He is besotted by a beautiful, mysterious woman. He finds himself in gambling halls and participating in a duel. He travels to London only to end up in the Thames.

This is a wonderful detective novel. Occasionally the translation made me laugh because Fandorin speaks foreign languages, including English. Since English is my natural language, I had to keep readjusting my thoughts to place myself in Russia instead. Fandorin is a fascinating character. Boris Akunin has written a well crafted mystery that keeps twisting in onto itself. I have read enough that at times I could predict the "next step", but never far in advance, just a scene or two. More Fandorin mysteries will be in my future.

The Winter Queen
Murder on the Leviathan
The Turkish Gambit
The Death of Achilles
The Special Assignments: The Further Adventurs of Erast Fandorin
The State Counsellor